Dreams and reality
by deLattre
Summary: Nigel is daydreaming, and it shows. An alternate universe where the KND don't exist.


Nigel, we need to talk."

Nigel put down his fork and glared at his father. "About what?"

"About your performance at school, dear." answered his mother. "I had a meeting with your homeroom teacher yesterday. She said that your grades have gone way down in the past two months. She seemed worried, and quite frankly, so was I. You've always been a good student, maybe not an outstanding one but a...

But Mary Uno's words sounded dim and far-off to her son. He had more more important concerns right now.

_The alarm blared throughout the treehouse as Sector V's operatives rushed to the hangar. _

_"What's going on, Numbuh One?!" _

_"What's the emergency?"_

_"Something very serious has happened." explained Nigel. "Numbuh 362 has been kidnapped by Father!" His words provoked a collective gasp._

_"What!" _

_"Ya have got ter be kidding!" _

_"The Supreme Leader, kidnapped?" _

_"It's no joke, I'm afraid. Father contacted us on the supercomputermabob, and he showed us Rachel. She's being held in Cherokee Forest."_

_"Well, wot are we waiting for?!" exclaimed Wally. "There's five of us and one of him! We can take him!" _

_-"It's not that easy, Numbuh Four. Numbuh 362 said she was being guarded by at least 8 teenagers before she got cut off."_

_-"8 teenagers...Can't we call for backup?" _

_-"No, we can't, Numbuh 3. You see, Father warned us that if any operatives besides Sector V tried to rescue Rachel, he would delightfulize her. It looks like we're on our own."_

_"He wouldn't...", muttered Kuki, horrified. _

_"You know what Father is like, Numbuh Three." replied Nigel darkly. "He would."_

_-"Well what are **supposed** to do?" asked Abby, clearly frustrated. "We can't take on that many teenage ninjas!" _

_-"I know, Numbuh 5. But don't worry, I've got a plan. Here's what we'll do..._

"And apparently, you currently hold a D+ average in history. History, Nigel! It's supposed to be your strongest subject."

"Well, uh, we're having a test in three days, and I intend to do well on it."

"That's the attitude we want." said Monty. "But it goes for all your classes. We know your teachers are rather strict, but it should be no excuse...

_In Cherokee Forest, Benedict Wigglestein, better known as Father, paced around Rachel's cage impatiently . He was confident of his chance of success. Not even Sector V could hope to withstand 15 armored teenagers, to say nothing of his contingency plan. At last, he would make these miserable little brats suffer for getting in the way of his grand plan. But what was taking them so long?_

_-"Father, here they come!" shouted Chad. The villain scanned the horizon. Sure enough, Sector V's ship was approaching._

_-"Excellent. Everyone in position! You all know the plan." The teenagers waited with bated breath, eager to pummel their adversaries. But they would never get the chance. For as the SCAMPER reached the clearing, a large spherical magnet emerged from it's cargo hold. Suddenly, the adolescents, all of whom were wearing metal armor were being pulled towards to the object. A few belatedly tried to deactivate their suits, but not fast enough. Within seconds, they were pinned against the magnet._

...friends might be a bad influence? What do you think?"

"Sorry, what's a bad influence?"

"I asked, do you think your friends are having a bad influence on you?"

"No, absolutely not! They have nothing to do with my grades."

"I want to believe you, Nigel. But I really think...

_In the cockpit, the kids returned the magnet to the hold and cheered. Only half a minute, and they had completely wiped out 's fighting power. Pressing their advantage, the team (minus its pilot) disembarked. Father summoned a fireball, but Wally preempted him-he fired a fired a freeze gun at the villain. Father gave a cry of anger as his right hand was encased in ice. A second blast encased his right hand, but not before he'd clicked a button on a small remote._

_Sector V looked around in alarm as the ground under their feet began to quake._

_"Poor, deluded Kids Next Door." sneered Father. "You think you've beaten me, don't you? Well-SURPRISE!"_

_Suddenly, a fifty-foot tall robot crashed through the trees, making straight for Sector V._

"and I always managed to retain my identity within the group...

_Nigel reacted with great speed. "Numbuh 3, Numbuh 4, Numbuh 5, diversionary tactics. Numbuh 2, get the ship away from here!"_

_Taking a deep breath, Nigel dashed towards Father. Fortunately, the villain was busy watching his robot. When he finally noticed Nigel, the boy was right next to him. He laughed coldy. "Well, I guess you're even stupider than I thought, Numbuh One-_

_Before Father could say anything more, he'd been hit with a B.E.A.R.H.U.G.G.A.H. In the process, the sinister man lost his remote._

_Knowing every second mattered, Nigel seized the remote and deactivated the robot. Just as it was squeezing the life out of Wally and Kuki, the machine fell inert. For good measure, Sector V's leader used his rocket boots to incinerate the device in his hands. _

_With an enormous burst of flames, Father blasted the B.E.A.R.H.U.G.G.A.H. three hundred feet away. "You little brats!" he screamed. "How DARE you deactivate my robot?!" _

_The four operatives on the ground prudently advanced on him. "It's over, Father!" proclaimed Nigel. "Your plan has failed once again. Give us back Numbuh 362, and we'll let you leave."_

"Do you understand what I mean, Nigel?"

"Yes, I do, of course."

_Benedict narrowed his yellow eyes angrily, but made no movement. "All right." he said finally. "You win this time! Just release my teenagers, and you can have your precious leader back."_

_"So ya can double-cross us?" said Wally indignantly. "Ah don't think so!"_

_"Yeah!" shouted Kuki. "Why should we trust you?"_

_Sector V's leader thought furiously. Father might be trying to trick them. On the other hand, surely even evil adults knew how to keep promises. _

_"First let Numbuh 362 go." said Nigel sternly. _

_"Oh, very well. I'll let let her ago. But you have to release my teenagers the moment I do. "_

_Moving very cautiously, the two sides accomplished the exchange. Sector V and Rachel then re-boarded the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and blasted off, though not before exchanging a look of loathing with Father and his teenagers. _

_As the clearing shrank to small dot on the horizon, Nigel felt euphoria and relief course through his body. He turned to congratulate his team. _

"NIGEL!"

"Yes?"

"Did you hear my question?"

"Something about school?"

"Have you even been listening to what I said for the last five minutes?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Well what have I been saying, then?"

"Uh...

His mother sighed. "You see, Nigel, this is what the teacher's complaining about. You're constantly daydreaming in classes. It's almost as if you weren't interested in school anymore."

"What's wrong, old chum?" asked Monty. "You can tell us anything, you know that. Does it have something to do with your Kids By Door project?"

The British boy assumed a remorseful tone. "Yes, I guess that is the problem. I've been spending too much time on the Kids Next Door , and it's made me neglect my work. That's why I haven't been interested in school much. But I promise you, starting tonight. I'll make work my priority. In fact, could I leave the table early? So I can study for the history test?

"All right", said Monty, "but I'm trusting you to really study, not play games."

"I will, don't worry." Nigel quietly withdrew to his room and sat down. His parents were right; he did need to bring his grades up. But that wasn't why he had asked to leave the table. Actually, he had needed to make a phone call.

His phone rang, and Abby's voice became audible on the other line.

"Hey, Nigel. Good news: the councilor called me back."

"And what did he say?"

"He said he has no more objections. The third floor on the building is ours."

"He did? Wow, I can't believe it! We did it! We finally have our headquarters!"

"I know! Abby didn't think it could be done, but man, you sure carried us through."

"Hey, we all worked for this."

They savored the good news for a moment.

"Anyway, how much money do we have left? After buying the floor, that is?"

"Let me see...3200 dollars."

"Is that enough to buy all the equipment on the list?"

"Yeah, more than enough."

"Excellent. I guess all those summers we spent working paid off. And did the Agency say whether they would be willing to cover the cost of water and electricity?"

"Yep, they called today, said they'd do it. But they'll be expecting some results."

"Then it's time we got to work. I think we should have a team meeting tomorrow just after school."

"Works for Abby. What time?"

"3:30 P.M. Can you tell the others?"

"Sure thing. See ya tomorrow, Numbuh One."

"See you tomorrow."

Nigel hung up and smiled. Adult villains in Cleveland had watch out. His vision of a kid's law-enforcement agency was finally taking shape.

**Thanks for reading, everyone. By the way, the adult villains in this universe are real, but they're realistic-a bit like the villains in Nolan's Batman trilogy. Also, Nigel and his friends are 11 years old. **


End file.
